Shirt



(No Model.)

W. s. 0.(W1LBY. SHIRT.

No. 493,956. Patented Mar. 21, 189s.

/NVENTH W/TNESSES: 1725A: 7 Mww ,fegq/-z/wym4 A TTOHNE Y.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM S. C. IVILEY, CATSKILL, NEW YORK.

SHIRT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 493,956, dated March 21, 1893. Application tiled January 26, 1893. Serial No. 459,764. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. C. WILEY, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Catskill, in the county of Greene and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shirts, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in shirts and more particularly to that kind or class of woolen shirts generally used by athletes and Sportsmen, the object of the same beingto provide an articleof this kind which shall be neat in appearance and which, though partly laced up the front, maybe more easily and. readily put on or removed by the wearer than other shirts of like character.

The serious difficulty heretofore encoun` tered in the use of shirts having laced fronts or bosoms is the inconvenience attendant upon putting on or removing the article as in the latter case it is necessary to remove the lacing cord from the eyelets or openings formed in the bosom for the passage thereof, and in the former case it is necessary to pass the lacing cord through each of the eyelets in the bosom, and whileshirts have been devised for overcoming this inconvenience, such for instance as is shown in the patent to J. G. Barker, February 7, 1882, and numbered 253,256, the fault or inconvenience has only been partially remedied.

With these and other ends in view my invention consists in certain novel features of construction as will be hereinafter fully described and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a front view of the bosom of my improved shirt when closed or buttoned. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same when open or nnbuttoned. Fig. 3 is a modification of the same. Fig. 4. is a sectional view of the watch pocket.

Referring to the drawings A represents the body of the shirt, the front of which is opened, as in shirts of ordinary construction along the line a-b, a fastening c of a suitable character such, for instance, as button and button hole, hook and eye, or ball and socket being provided for closing the shirt at the neck. Along one of the vertical edges of this opening, I secure, by stitching or otherwise, afiap d of some cheap material, approximately the same in color as that of thematerial of which the shirt is made, for the purpose of effectuallyclosing the opening of the shirt when the latter is buttoned; the same purpose may be effected, however, by so formingthe shirt that one side of the front thereof will overlap to a sufficient extent the material forming the other side of said front.

To the front of the shirt and forminga part of the bosom thereof, I secure the two pieces B, B, constituting what might be termed a sectional facing, these sections being stitched along their outer edges to the body of the shirt as shown at cl, CZ, and also at their lower edges as shown at e, c. The upper portions of these sections B, B, are cut away to expose a V-shaped portion of the material of which the shirt is formed, and which portion C together with the sections B, B, may be said to constitute the bosom of the shirt. The sections B, B, I prefer to form of material different in pattern, appearance, or texture to that of which the body of the shirt is made, thereby effecting a contrast between said portions B, B, and the V-shaped portion C, giving to the former somewhat the appearance of a vest or distinctgarment from that formed of the fabric C, this effect being more decided by forming the collar D of the same material as that used in the formation of the sectional facing B.

If desired, the inner edges of the sections B, B, may be stitched to the fabric A, as shown at f, f, but this is not absolutely essential, these edges being straight, as shown in Figs. 1, and 2, or turned over and formed into lapels E, E, as shown in Figs. 3, in which latter event the outer or exposed side of such lapel will preferably be faced with some suitable material and stitched down, as at g, g, along the outer edges thereof, or simply fastened down at the corners 71h, such construction intensifying the effect intended to be produced, that is of lending to the nished article the appearance of having a vest combined therewith.

Into the material forming the sectional facing are secured eyelets i, t', extending from the points where the two sections meet, that is at the lower end of the cut out portion, to within a short distance of the bottom of the bosom and through which eyelets is passed a xoo lacing cord F, as shown in the several figures of the drawings. Into that section of the facing to which is secured the flap d, the eyelets are inserted to the right of the stitching f, and pass through the material of the facing only, While in the opposite section of said facing the eyelets are passed through bot-h the material composing the bodyof the shirt and that of the facing.

On one side of the shirt front, I form a watch pocket by slitting the facing B along the line the edges of said slit being preferably bound with braid, or other material, to give thereto a neat and finished appearance, the facing below said slit being stitched to the material A forming the body of the shirt, as shown at l, said stitching starting from the inner corner of the slit and extending downwardly and outwardly until it meets the stitching d along the outer edge of said facing, the material A thus forming the back of the pocket and the materialBthe front thereof. lf the facing B be of double thickness, one thickness thereof Will form the back, and the other thickness the front side of said pocket as shown in Fig. 4E. On the opposite section B of the facing is formed a hole or opening m through which may be passed the Watch chain.

It will be understood from this construction and arrangement of the several parts composing the bosom or front of the shirt, that in removing the garment from the body itis simply necessary to unbutton or unfasten the shirt at theneck and partially untie the bow knot into which the upper ends of the lacing cord F are formed, for after so doing the whole front of the shirt may be opened to a sufficient extent, as shown in Fig. 2, to draw it over the head of the wearer, and in putting the shirt on, or more properly fastening it after such has been put on, it is only necessary to secure the fastening at the neck and after drawing the lacing cord F taut, complete the bow knot therein, said lacing cord completely closing the lower portion of the bosom and the fastening at the neck the upper portion, thereby overcoming the necessity and inconvenience of passing the cord through the eyelets or actually lacing the bosom to close it.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

An outing shirt having a front open down the center, and having a narrow facing secured to said front upon opposite sides of the opening, the upper central portion of said facing being removed to expose said shirt and the lower portion thereof being separated or opened from the cut-away part to or near the lower end, and having a lacing cord passing through and fastening the opposite edges of said separated portion, and a collar secured to said shirt and overlapping the upper ends of said facing, substantially as described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 21st day of January, A. D. 1893.

WILLIAM S. C. WILEY. Vitnesses:

CHAsE. HoToHKIss, GEORGE GooK. 

